FOUNDATION:
LIAM LANGER
Liam Langer found some good form last year in the B class, predominantly finding success in the 450cc classes as he came on strong at the end of the season with some solid finishes at quite a few high profile races. The New York native finished in 10th place overall at the Loretta Lynn Amateur National Motocross Championship, achieving a personal best moto finish of 7th throughout the week. Langer gathered the momentum from Loretta’s and carried it into the Baja Brawl over Labor Day Weekend, performing well in the 450 B Limited category. He maintained speed and consistency in the shifting sands of Millington, Michigan as he put himself on the overall podium with 4-3-5 moto scores. A few months later, he ended his 2019 campaign at The Motoplayground Race at Ponca City, collecting a 9th place overall finish in the Collegeboy (18-24) class. Langer hasn’t taken too many gate drops as of yet in the 2020 racing season apart from the Daytona RCSX at the beginning of the year and the more recent Mid-East Loretta Lynn Regional at Wildcat Creek. He took advantage of the downtime throughout the spring and made an early jump to the A-class, planning to use the rest of the season to learn the ropes of the expert class. We chatted with Liam to talk about the end of the 2019 season, how he’s kept busy during the quarantine, and what he’s got planned for the remainder of the year.
What did you do to keep yourself busy and occupied when the lockdown started back in March?
When it first started I was in Florida after Daytona, my mechanic and I were staying at his grandparent’s house and we were about to leave for Freestone and then we heard that it might be canceled. So we decided to stay in Florida and hang out for a little while. We ended up staying in Florida for a month.
Did you take some time off of the bike initially at that point?
I slowed down a little on riding. I went from riding almost every day to only riding two or three times a week.
What has your riding and training situation been like and how has that developed throughout the last few months?
I have been keeping it pretty easy just riding two or three times a week. I work a full-time job so I have to kinda ride around that, but I have been keeping on it.
What kind of hobbies do you have outside of motocross?
Outside of riding I love going out on a boat or just hanging with friends. I also enjoy working on things, like I’m currently in the middle of building a 1995 F-350 from the frame up.
Take us through your week last year at Loretta’s and grabbing a top ten finish in the 450 B class.
Loretta’s last year was really good. I really didn’t know what to expect going into it, but I had great support for my team (MB60). Mike, the team owner, helped me out a ton. He took me down to Loretta Lynn’s in his motorhome and helped me get comfortable once we were there. After the first moto, I knew it was gonna be a good week.
Last year at the Baja Brawl, you finished 3rd in the 450 B Limited class. How’d your weekend go in Michigan?
The Baja Brawl was a really fun weekend. The track was awesome and I was riding really good. That was another race that Mike brought me to and my teammate Hunter was there, so it was overall just a really good weekend.
Talk about your top ten overall finish in the Collegeboy class and your first time out for The Motoplayground Race at Ponca City.
Ponca City was another fun weekend. I had just started training at Crossbone MX in Alabama; I was kinda having an off weekend at Ponca and the results really weren’t what I wanted but after that I went back to Alabama and started training.
What prompted the switch to KTM for Suzuki this season and how has that been?
The idea of switching started at Crossbone. Troy Miller, who is the owner, his brother Tim Castrone works for Suzuki and I ended up getting in contact with him and riding a Suzuki and then talking to the team. We ended up switching and I couldn’t be happier!
How’d your weekend go back in March at the Daytona RCSX in the B class?
Daytona went well. It was my first race on the new bikes and a lot of things ended up coming together last minute, like my race bike ended up getting put together the Tuesday before Daytona. But I really felt like I showed good speed, I just didn’t have the greatest results.
What made you decide to make the move to the A-class throughout the hiatus from racing?
I was going to stay in B class this year but because of the break I figured why not just move up and use it as a year to grow and learn in the new class.
How’d things go for you at the Loretta Lynn Regional at Wildcat Creek?
Wildcat went terribly for me. (laughs) I had good speed in practice but then the rain came and it got bad. I ended up destroying both of my bikes and packing up and leaving before finishing my motos.
What’re your plans for the remainder of the season and the beginning of next year?
I am gonna use this year as a learning year more than anything. I still have great support from the whole MB60 team, so I’m just gonna try to learn in the new class while working my way to my pro points and then trying to get my pro card so I can be ready for outdoors 2021.